I was in third grade before I knew that a human heart is not smooth and simple and symmetrical. A trip to the science museum proved it. Wondrous and vital as the human heart is, it’s also scary-looking, lopsided, and a bit complicated. Love first masquerades as a soft romance, too. But when we … [Read more...] about What Love Looks Like
doubt
In the Shadow of a Stump
Some scriptures just seem to overpromise. Like the one about how believers can run and not grow weary, how we can soar on wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:31). I can’t remember ever running (or believing for something long-term) without getting super exhausted. And heart failure makes it nearly … [Read more...] about In the Shadow of a Stump
Finding Answers in Unanswered Prayers
I begged my daddy to say yes. I flashed my brown eyes at him, daring him to resist. My eight-year-old mind just knew I could prove my maturity by being admitted to The Headless Woman carnival sideshow. I remember her well. The version that made her rounds at the Kansas State Fair decades ago sat … [Read more...] about Finding Answers in Unanswered Prayers
A Better Memory
The almost-antique farm truck is a strange combination of burned metal and rust from years of weathering. I remember the fire that caught our neighbors by surprise one hectic week in a June far behind us. Deep into the rush and importance of harvest, the truck was crossing the recently-cut stubble … [Read more...] about A Better Memory
Learning to Lament
It was an ordinary Tuesday. As I made my way into the choir room, I remember seeing her older brother pacing outside the school office, waiting for her to be released from class. My childhood friend’s mother had died after a long illness when we were seniors in high school. I knew her mother … [Read more...] about Learning to Lament
Sensible Skin is Tougher Than You’d Think
Every mama knows, preschool conversations reveal some of life’s biggest truths. It was my day to have the two for lunch after their morning at preschool, my younger daughter and her four-year-old friend. It was a Thursday thing that year. These besties loved spending as much time together as they … [Read more...] about Sensible Skin is Tougher Than You’d Think